Now before you say: "this must have been written by a giggly girl who's brain has been reduced to a bowl of oatmeal by Kevin, Howie, Brian, A.J. and Nick's supposed "pretty boys of pop music" image let me just say that the Backstreet Boys were one of the first bands since New Kids On The Block that reintroduced the world to "boy band" culture.
I have been a fan of the Backstreet Boys since December 27, 1996 and so far it hasn't changed me one little bit. That's nearly 9 years. The Backstreet Boys are my idols for many reasons. No I'm not some mindless, giggly 14 year old kid with nothing to do except write a long and boring paragraph about why the Backstreet Boys are my favourite band.
I will just tell you that when I discovered the Backstreet Boys I was only 20 years old and I didn't think that they would last very long but here it is pushing May 2005 and they even have a new album coming out in June and an ampritheater tour to follow.
All I have to say about that is so much for the people who thought that they were washed up old hasbeens.
All of you may think that this is a silly thing for someone my age to be talking about but I think that there's a lot more to BSB than meets the eye. Sure they're five good looking guys but each has his own personality that has had a great deal of impact on the world of popular music.
The Backstreet Boys have sparked my interest in my early 20's. CIRCA: 1995 and the Backstreet Boys burst onto the Canadian music scene with their first single: "We've Got It Going On." The song didn't really do well in their home country but it seemed to do better overseas. Coming from Europe to french speaking Canada.
Then in 1996 the Backstreet Boys moved their way to Toronto in Ontario and then into the rest of Canada.
I wasn't a really huge fan of theirs until December 27, 1996 and their first concert in Toronto. I wasn't acutally at the show but I saw them on Muchmusic the following day doing an interview with VJ Rick Campinelli. I knew that was the day that I had found my heroes in the Backstreet Boys.
Now it's like all I ever talk about is the Backstreet Boys. They seem to occupy a good chunk of my life but not so much that it's warped me. My mother wonders if I'm ever going to grow up but I really don't want to grow up because inside me beats the heart of a 14 year old girl.
I had a thing for New Kids On The Block back in the day and they occupied my mind 24/7/365 but now my life is dedicated to the Backstreet Boys.
Music okay, let's start with the music which is the most obvious thing to start with. The Backstreet Boys have been known for their mix of pop, R&B and other elements that have had an impact on popular culture.
The first album was a mix of pop, a little bit of R&B and some elements rap. These elements were designed for the 8-19 year old girl bracket. This album was released October, 1996.
Moving up to 1997's Backstreet's Back. There are more and more elements of the same "boy band" mix of pop, R&B and Rap but in bigger doses. The single "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" had the rap element woven right into it. :) This album was released Agust 27, 1997
1999's Millenium is a more "mature" sound as the Backstreet Boys try and grow and mature with their fans. All of the essential elements of their music are there. They seem to grow and mature along with the fans. The album was released May 18, 1999.
Y2K saw the release of Black & Blue. The album and the music are cattered to a more mature audience. Backstreet Boys are still growing musically as well as their fans are. The Backstreet Boys have still got the same elements that every so-called "boy band" does except they're trying this time to appeal to the adult audiences. The Backstreet Boys are maturing more and more as their sound grows and grows. This album was released on November 21, 2000
2K1 and a Greatest Hits compillation is released. This contains all of their old hits and a new single called "Drowning" which is one of their best works yet. The album was released on October 30, 2001.
2K5: The next album, entitled Never Gone, will be released on June 14 and is going to be a little more rock oriented. The boys are working with Jermaine Dupri, producer for Lil Bow-Wow, and Glen Ballard, producer for Alanis Morissette and Areosmith, to put more of a rock element to the music. Another thing that should be interesting is the fact that they're going organic which means that there won't be any synthetic sounds such as synthesizers and keyboards. Hopefully there won't be anything else that will delay the release of the album.
The Songs This is always the way with people who don't quite understand why it is that females, and some males, have identified with the Backstreet Boys.
Love Ballads. The Backstreet Boys have released many love ballads and songs about love and having their hearts broken.
Here are just a few of the songs that have broken some hearts and made the fans cry.
Up-Beat Tempos. The Backstreet Boys have a lot of up-beat and dancable songs.
Here are but a few examples.
Songs for the fans. We know that a lot of BSB's songs are writen with their fans in mind. Here are just a few of the songs that are for the fans
Songs About Cheating. Backstreet Boys are the only band that I know of who have writen songs about cheating hearts. Here are a few examples of songs for cheaters
The Fans. By now most of you think that the Backstreet Boys' fan base is made up of mostly 8-13 year old girls. Oh how wrong these people are. There are mature fans.
In the world of "mature fans" there are people who think that Backstreet Boys are just cute. The Backstreet Boys have their own mature fanclub based out of Texas.
The Mature Fanclub has been cattering to those Backstreet Boys fans who are aged 25 or older since 1999. If you are under the minimum age then you can join as a guest.
The Mature Fan Club has members from all over the world and are very hardcore Backstreet Boys fans. Fans from as far away as South America, Asia, Africa, Austrailia and New Zealand all coming together for one purpose: to volunteer their time to and raise money for Backstreet Boys Charities, and to promote the band in a positive manner.
Some of the members are married and have children of their own. This gives them people, other than their spouses or signiffcant others, to talk to about Backstreet Boys. I've been a fan for the past 6 years and I only hope that more people will join our little club. :)
I e-mailed Ed The Sock one day saying that I hated the fact that he took such cheap shots at Kevin, A.J. and Aaron Carter during last year's Fromage special. He said (in a rather nasty manner) that I was "entitled to my opinion even though my feelings may change if I'm half-way through puberty. Enjoy adolesence."
So I e-mailed Ed back and I said: "What makes you think that I'm a teeny-bopper? There are mature Backstreet Boys fans you know. This teenybopper is a grown woman who's quite proud to be a BSB fan. We even have our own club and we're over 3000 members strong LOSER!"
I'm not sure but I think that shut him up!
Backstreet Charities. Charities that are near and dear to Backstreet Boys' hearts include:
The Dorough Lupus Foundation is Howie's charity. Howie and his family set up a foundation in the name Caroline Dorough Cochraine. Howie's sister surccumbed to Lupus in 1998. Howie's charity supports lupus research so that a cure may be found.
Just Within Reach is Kevin's charity. Kevin's charity was named in honor of Kevin's father, Jerald Wayne Richardson, who died of colorectal cancer in 1993. The purpose of Just Within Reach is bring about Environmental issues and to make the U.S. more environmentally sound.
Healthy Heart Club for Kids is Brian's charity. When Brian was 5 years old a viral infection caused a sepital defect, a hole, in between the left and right ventricles of his heart. In 1998 Brian underwent opened heart surgery to repair the hole in his heart. Before he went under the knife Brian and his mother Jackie went to the hospital and expressed a desire to start a charity for kids. This charity would help kids who's parent's medical insurance won't cover proceedures such as opened heart surgery.
The Johnny No-Name Foundation is A.J.'s charity. Two charities benefit from the Johnny No-Name Foundation. The Juvinile Diabetes Foundation, because A.J.'s uncle suffers from JD, and V-H1's Save The Music. Save The Music helps bring music programs to schools.
NCOC: Nick Carter's Oceans Campaign is Nick's charity, obviously, that helps bring about issues about marine life and oceans.
These are all wonderful charities that are near and dear to the boy's hearts. Each brings about issues that the boys identify with. The Backstreet Boys work really hard to donate their time, money and energy to these worthwhile causes. :)
Attitude Towards Their Fans. The Backstreet Boys seem to have a wonderful attitude towards their fans. They always maintain that they wouldn't be what they are without the fans. Backstreet Boys haven't been anything but wonderful towards their fans. I really respect and admire that they take time out to sign a few autographs, or talk to the fans. :)
Their Attitude In General. Their attitude is very good. They have a good outlook on life and their loves. A.J. has the best attitude towards himself, and about his family. They don't have the "holier than thou" attitude that most bands of their level have.
A pop group that has that "holier than thou" Attitude will ruin my like for their music.
Hairstyles, Tattoos, and Clothes. Not the most important of things to talk about but the styles and types of clothes that Backstreet Boys have worn over the past few years have been enough to cover a two-page spread of a Tommy Hillfiger ad. A.J., Howie, Nick and Kevin have all changed their hair styles and facial hair more often than most of us have changed our shoes.
The Backstreet Hairstyles Timeline.
Kevin
Kevin went from having long and layered hair in the beginning for that "Young and Available" look that he had in early 1996.
In 1997 after the release of their hugely popular sophmore album: "Backstreet's Back" Kevin went "short a choppy" and even went so far as to sport a little peach fuzz.
In 1999 when "Millenium" was released Kevin went "short and spiky" for that just got out of bed look. He grew his beard and moustache even more for that look.
In 2000, the year of "Black & Blue" Kevin grew his hair out and started triming his beard and moustache.
2001 saw the release of "Chapter 1: The Hits" and yet another Kevin hairstyle. This time he went back to that short and choppy look and trimed his beard and moustache even more.
2002. Now that this year the boys are ready to release another album and with it Kevin is sporting a mohawk which is not one of his best looks.
Maybe one day soon Kevin will have a Playgirl spread that shows his tattoo? Yes a girl can dream.
2004: Kevin has a new brush cut. It's pretty low matainence which I'm sure for him is nice compared to that mop he had before. It looks better than the mohawk that he had before.
Howie
Howie has had so many different hairstyles in his short 30 years of life. Here are some of them that I've been asking for many years: "Howie what the HELL were you thinking?!"
1996: The first album and Howie's first hairstyle. He had the fluff on top and it was clean shaven on the back and sides. It was made to give the band a "squeaky clean" image.
1997: The Afro. The Chia Pet. Enough said.
1999: The year of Millenium and the year that Howie grew a muttonchop. His hair was long and pulled back in a ponytail.
2000: The year of Black & Blue and finally, Howie had a hairstyle that suited him. He'd grown his hair all the way down to his waist and it was straight. This style looked particularly good on him for the simple fact that it wasn't messy. When I first saw Howie, I thought who is that?
2001: Chapter 1: The Hits and a new do for Howie. This time he has a mullet which looks very nice on him. This suits Howie even better than the waist-length straight style that he wore the year before.
2002: Howie still has that mullet hairstyle and that's the way that I prefer to see him.
2004: Howie's hair has been cut even shorter and apparently is spiked up.
Nick
In the beginning Nick's hair didn't change too much in the way of cuts but his hair colour has changed on several different occaissions.
1996: At this time Nick was young, just 16, and he let his sister dye his hair blonde. His hairstyle was simple, a smooth bob style, and he looked particularly good this year.
1997: Nick's hair didn't change too much but his smooth bob was shaved more in the back. Score 1 for Nick.
1999: Nick's hair was changed even more. It was still a smooth bob style but by this time he was sporting a little peach fuzz.
2000: Nick took a daring route and lopped off all of his locks for a short and spiky look
2001: Found Nick's hair to be grown out more as a mature Nick sports more peach fuzz.
2002: Nick still has that short and spiky look to round out the year.
2004: Nick cut his hair and it looks really good. He has it spiked up in the front and clean shaven on the sides.
Alex: A.J.
We saw A.J. go through more hairstyle changes than anyone in the group. Let me take you through some of the changes that A.J. went through as he went from a insecure and almost dead 16 year old to a handsome and confident 24 year old.
1996: A.J. was in his teenaged years and he had a short haircut with his natural hair colour: black
1997: A.J.'s hair begins to grow out and as he leaves his teenaged years behind him his hair gets more and more wild.
1999: A.J. grows his hair long and bleaches it platinum blonde which is not one of his best looks but it seems to satisfy him.
2000: We see A.J. doing weird shit to his hair like dying it blue and leaving some of it black. Black & Blue. Get it?
2001: The year that A.J. had another hairstyle for the new GH compliation called Chapter 1. He had short, choppy, blonde hair and he was looking much better than he did before. :)
2002: A.J. grows his hair long and dyes it back to its natural colour: Black.
2004: A.J. now has a mohawk. It looks much better on him than it did on Kevin.
Tattoos
Yes four out of five of the guys sport body art/tattoos that are quite funny. A.J. has over 20 different tattoos alone.
Here are but some of the tattoos that I'm aware of.
A.J.'s arms starting from his shoulders.
A.J.'s invisible tattoos.
Nick's Tattoos
Kevin has a tattoo on his pelvic bone.
Brian has two tattoos on his arm.
Only one Backstreet Boy doesn't have any tattoos and that's Howie. Why doesn't he have any tattoos? It's because Howie is afraid of tattoo needles.
The clothes that the Backstreet Boys wear represents each member's own sense of style.
In the early days of the Backstreet Boys you could see them wearing Tommy Hillfiger, Fugazzi (SP?) and Gucci clothes. Even A.J. has over 70 different pairs of sunglasses from these brand names.
Nowadays I don't think brand labels really matter to them. They will snap up their wardrobe for awards shows and stuff like that but when it comes to being onstage I think the Backstreet Boys know what looks good on them and what they'll wear better than anyone else.
Cartoons that starred the BSB in one form or another.
The Backstreet Boys have appeared in many cartoons and TV shows."
The following is a list of shows that one or all of the BSB's have appeared in:
What's New For Our Boys?
Who knows. Maybe they'll get into more fasionable stuff or just go au naturel.....That might be a bit of a stretch but I'd like to see it one of these days. ROTF. :)
In all seriousness mothers and fathers LOCK UP YOUR DAUGHTERS! I don't think the Backstreet Boys's impact on popular culture is done quite yet.
But truthfully, the Backstreet Boys define what kids are into. They represent their fans, young and old, very well. They are the voice of an entire generation fans.
The fans also represent the Backstreet Boys very well. Young/old, married/attached/single. Backstreet Boys fans don't know what it means to be considered to be "too old" for BSB. :) I, for one, would like to represent an artist/ group who means something to me and not something that doesn't say anything.
I also would like to say that the Backstreet Boys will never know the kind of impact that their music has made in my life. I was always a shy and unsocial person. Thanks to the Backstreet Boys my life has become more of an opened book and not a closed book.
Backstreet Boys mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people but to me BSB represents something a lot more than just being a giggly girl whose brain has been reduced to a bowl of oatmeal. It means that I can be as expressive as I want to be.
They're a group that everybody can love. No filler stuff, no hateful propaganda in their music. Just the purity of music, voices and five of the nicest guys there ever were in this world.
Being a Backstreet Boys fan means that I don't have to be afraid to express myself like I might have been afraid to in the past.
The Backstreet Boys have taught me that in order for me to start caring about other people, I have to care about myself, because if I don't care about myself then nobody else is going to care about me. It means that I can be myself and not care about what anybody thinks or will think about me.
Care about yourself before you can care about other people. That's what I learned from BSB. They taught me that.
Whether it's a BSB shrine like this or whatever your favourite group is, just do it and don't let anybody tell you that you can't do it. Because believing that you can't do it is first step towards failiure. If you can't do things for yourself then nobody is going to do these things for you.
I feel like the Backstreet Boys are singing for their fans. I've had a lot of things happen to me in my short 27 years of life that I'd rather not get into but as long as I have BSB's music and they're willing to keep putting it out then I'm willing to listen to it. So what if people tell me that I should grow up? As long as I'm happy with what I'm listening to then it really doesn't matter what other people think.
To the people who thought that BSB wouldn't last very long and didn't belong on the music scene I say "Poop on you" and for those who have stuck around for the nearly 11 years that Backstreet Boys have been around I say "thank you." You've proven time and time again that the greatest fans ever are Backstreet Boys fans.
While the Backstreet Boys are not appreciated by a few people who are closed minded, intellectual, people who listen to music with hateful propaganda. I can say without a doubt that the Backstreet Boys have managed to go through it all and come out of it very splendidly.
A.J.'s problems with depression and substance abuse and entrance into a rehabilitation facility in July of 2001 just prove how much the Backstreet Boys fans will always love and support them no matter how badly they have it.
I can say that the reason why I like the Backstreet Boys is because there's a purity about them and their music. They don't sing about raping and killing their mothers, wives or girlfriends. They sing about things that really matter to them. Life, love and romance. The Backstreet Boys are the voice of an entire generation of fans that for, one reason or another, have found their voices being answered in Kevin Scott Richardson, Howard Dwaine Dorough, Brian Thomas Littrell, Alexander James McLean and Nickolas Gene Carter.
To the Backstreet Boys I say thank you for giving me a reason to be around. Your songs have truly been an inspiration to those who have never had any people like you guys to speak for them. You guys are the reason why I'm still breathing the air that I breathe and thus you are the reason why I still feel more and more inspired to do the things that I do everyday.
I would also like to thank the guys for what they have unknowingly done for me. They've made me feel comfortable in my own shell and I know now that I can do whatever I want and be what I want. They taught me that you can do whatever you want to do no matter if you think that you can't do it.
BSB has a fan in me for the rest of the time that the group exists. Because they have done things for me that they may never know anything about.
The Backstreet Boys have helped me see that I can do anything that I put my mind to. Whether it's my excercise or getting to where I need to go. The Backstreet Boys have helped me to realize talents that even I didn't know I had.
I suppose you could say that another thing that the Backstreet Boys have taught me is that you should never give up on your dreams. If you stick to your principles and don't give up on your dreams then your dreams will come true. :)
Some people think that because you're a Backstreet Boys fan it means that you're some mindless, giggly, fan whose brain has been reduced to a bowl of oatmeal by the only 5 guys to have survived people bashing them and critics saying that they won't last very long. Well, the Backstreet Boys have survived heartaches, loss of both family members and relationships, and they've come through it so splendidly.
I also have to say that the Backstreet Boys are the reason why I haven't given up on my life. 8 years ago I was just ready to give up on my life. I kept on believing people when they told me that you'll never be able to do anything. I proved them wrong by going back to school. While the Backstreet Boys may not be fully appreciated for their ablity to bring fans together they are clearly the voice of the younger generation and as such have raised themselves to role-model status. No matter how bashful that makes them they still have their legions of loyal minions, myself included, who make sure that Backstreet Pride is still being kept alive.
Backstreet Boys fandom is really like a sisterhood. It brings the fans together in way not seen since New Kids On The Block. Their music touches us in some way and whether you've lost a friend or a family member you can turn on their CD and it makes you forget about what's troubling you. I love that BSB's music can do that for me.
I suppose you could say that BSB's music just brings out the best in me and no matter what some people might say I think that it's good that the Backstreet Boys can do that for me.
By Celeste
Revised: 05/24/05
Picture Credit. Thanks to members and guests of the MFC for supplying the pictures.